Google Core Web Vitals are a mix of three essential performance metrics that include the visual loading, interaction, and visual stability of a page as it loads for users – Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay, and Cumulative Layout Shift.

Google’s algorithm includes page experience as a ranking signal. With the impending upgrade, it’s more important than ever to understand the various aspects of page experience and how to optimize your site for each of them.

I’ve put together some recommendations for optimizing your site for the important areas of page experience to help you make sure it’s ready for this shift.

These include things like improved mobile usability and website security, as well as faster and smoother visual loading. Best SEO companies in Chennai help to improve Google Core Web Vitals by using the following steps.

How to Improve Google Core Web Vitals

1. Preload Key Resources to Speed up Visual Load Times

The emergence of above-the-fold content is one of the first cues for a user that a page is loading. This is where the first Core Web Vitals statistic, Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), comes in to quantify how quickly the primary on-page element loads.

Simply analyze the page in Chrome DevTools to see what the LCP element is, and it will be displayed in the Performance tab’s waterfall chart.

Once you know what the LCP element is, you can utilize the Performance tab in Chrome DevTools to view the visual progress of how rapidly it loads. Make sure Screenshots are checked, and then begin profiling the page as it loads.

When you’ve finished your profile, move your mouse over the load chart at the top to see a screenshot of the website as it loaded over time. This will allow you to see how quickly the various elements of the page load.

Consider using preloading to tell the browser to fetch these resources first as a priority to assist speed up the loading of the LCP element and above-the-fold content.

2. Optimize Main Thread Activity by Minimizing Long Tasks

There are many different issues behind the scenes that can cause a user to have to wait for the browser to respond to them tapping or clicking on a page.

Compare your CPCs, CTRs, and other metrics to those in your industry. Compare your CVR, AOV, bounce rate, and other key performance indicators. Compare each channel’s performance. This is what the second Core Web Vitals metric, First Input Delay, measures (FID).

While this can be a frustrating experience for users, there are steps we can take to address the problem and shorten the delay between human contacts and browser answers. Long tasks are a common cause of this problem.

Essentially, they are blocks of JavaScript code that cause the page to freeze and become unresponsive by blocking the main thread for an extended length of time. Long tasks in Chrome DevTools are marked with a red triangle at the top of the waterfall chart under the Main tab.

When you go to the Bottom-Up tab on a long job, it breaks down the different actions that took place within the task, such as compiling and parsing scripts.

The solution required will vary depending on the activities that are causing main thread blockages, however, code splitting and providing scripts in smaller parts is a frequent solution for addressing protracted chores.

3. Reserve Space for Images & Embeds to Load Into

The third Core Web Vitals metric, Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), measures how much a page’s visual layout shifts as it loads. This is to assess a particularly vexing aspect of user experience that we have all likely encountered:

When a user attempts to click a specific link, the page shifts and they mistakenly click in a different region of the page. Not reserving areas for graphics and embedded resources to load into is one of the most prevalent causes of a high CLS score and thus bad UX.

We can see, for example, that the BBC Weather cookie consent banner does not have an allocated space to load into using the Chrome DevTools snapshots feature in the Performance tab.

As a result, once it loads, the visible content is pushed down in the viewport around the 3-second point.

The featured video on CNN‘s homepage, on the other hand, has a reserved area in the website’s structure, so the remainder of the page layout remains untouched once the video has been loaded.

4. Make Sure Key Page Templates Are Mobile-Friendly

After mobile traffic surpassed desktop traffic in 2016, it became critical to ensure that websites were optimized for mobile devices, which were being used by a growing number of consumers.

On a mobile device, the layout and usability of a website can make or break the user’s experience. Users should, for example, be able to see crucial content clearly and easily without needing to zoom in.

There are two basic methods for evaluating your website’s mobile usability. The first step is to keep an eye on Google Search Console’s Mobile Usability report.

This report will highlight difficulties such as information that doesn’t fit on the screen and text that’s too small, as well as provide a list of URLs that are affected by each issue.

The second technique is to use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to test important page templates. This is a convenient approach to double-check particular pages.

5. Audit Your Site for Security Issues

Website security, in addition to load performance and mobile usability, will influence the page experience. Google wants to make sure that the websites that appear in the SERPs are secure for users to visit.

Malware, unwanted software, phishing, and false content are the top security concerns to be wary of. Take a look at the Security problems report in Google Search Console for a quick method.

This is to see whether your website has any flaws that could put your users at risk. Security & Manual Actions is where you’ll find this report.

6. Make Sure Forms & Embedded Resources Are Served Over HTTPS

Another way Google is attempting to assure user safety while browsing is by incorporating HTTPS as a page experience indication. Serving content that requires user interaction and input via an insecure HTTP connection puts users in danger and puts their data at risk.

This is especially crucial to remember when filling out forms that need users to provide any personal information, such as checkout forms that require payment information to be shared. The Security report in Screaming Frog is one way to check for these vulnerabilities.

The number of occurrences of forms served on HTTPS URLs, as well as mixed content issues when a mixture of page resources are served over HTTP and HTTPS, are shown in this report.

To ensure that your users can surf safely, ensure that your site has an up-to-date SSL certificate and that any of your URLs and links have been migrated.

7. Ensure Interstitials Don’t Obstruct Crucial Content

Users may have unfavorable and irritating experiences if a website contains obtrusive interstitials that take up a lot of space on a page and make it difficult for them to get to crucial on-page content.

You can see how interstitials are affecting your users by manually evaluating your pages on multiple devices or utilizing the Chrome DevTools snapshots feature.

To keep your users’ browsing experiences from being disrupted, consider revamping pop-ups and interstitials such that they don’t block critical on-page content and visitors don’t have to physically close them to continue their journey on your site.

Conclusion

You may improve your site’s page experience signals by following these guidelines and adding page experience optimization into your SEO strategy.